James A. Farley Post Office

An architectural triumph of its era, the grandeur of New York City's general post office is a testament to the bustling operation it once housed. Originally completed in 1912 before having its size doubled by then-Postmaster General James A. Farley in 1934, the imposing structure occupies eight acres—two full city blocks—and boasts the largest giant-order Corinthian colonnade in the world. Here, visitors will find the inscription so often and erroneously cited as the official credo of the USPS: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Twenty-four-hour service ended in 2009, a casualty of email and other technological innovations, though you can still have your postal needs met here—from stamp buying to packages weighed and mailed. Plans to convert much of the building into an Amtrak station named for late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan have dragged on since the 1990s, but a 2010 injection of federal stimulus funds have seen renovations finally begin in earnest, with a target completion date for the first phase of 2016.

An architectural triumph of its era, the grandeur of New York City's general post office is a testament to the bustling operation it once housed. Originally completed in 1912 before having its size doubled by then-Postmaster General James A. Farley in 1934, the imposing structure occupies eight acres—two full city blocks—and boasts the largest giant-order Corinthian colonnade in the world. Here, visitors will find the inscription so often and erroneously cited as the official credo of the USPS: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Twenty-four-hour service ended in 2009, a casualty of email and other technological innovations, though you can still have your postal needs met here—from stamp buying to packages weighed and mailed. Plans to convert much of the building into an Amtrak station named for late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan have dragged on since the 1990s, but a 2010 injection of federal stimulus funds have seen renovations finally begin in earnest, with a target completion date for the first phase of 2016.